


Finding Regina (sequel to Black Unicorn)

by ABSedarian



Series: Thirty Worlds (AU Challenge) [14]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU Challenge, Alternate Universe - Allegiance Swap, Challenge on Infinite Earths, F/F, Mentions of past abuse, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 08:26:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4172838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ABSedarian/pseuds/ABSedarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Challenge / Challenge on Infinite Earths</p>
<p>Day 14: Allegiance Swap</p>
<p>Princess Emma heads out to save Regina, the black unicorn she met in the forest, and finds something entirely unexpected. Sequel to Black Unicorn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding Regina (sequel to Black Unicorn)

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters.
> 
> A/N: I know I said these stories would all be separate, but this idea for a sequel to Black Unicorn (#6 in this series) just showed up in my head. I thought most of you probably wouldn't mind.

Princess Emma carefully climbed down the vines outside her bedroom's balcony, practice allowing her the perfect combination of steady steps, sure grips, and speed. Her parents had put her in rooms higher and higher up the south tower of the castle but still Emma had found a way down, although she had become much better had hiding her outings over the years.

Tonight secrecy and speed were of the essence if she were to find the black unicorn before her mother's hunters found it first. She had bought herself and the unicorn — _Regina_ , she reminded herself — some time by sending them in the opposite direction but the hunters would figure it out soon enough, especially with Granny Lucas leading them. Her nose was still too good to be fooled for too long, even if it wasn't quite in Red's league. Luckily, Red had been sent off to find a black horse somewhere, so Queen Snow and King David could continue to lie to their daughter in the most blatant way possible. _What else have my parents done in the name of good?_

Emma shook off the dark thoughts about her parents as she slowly made her way towards the stables and Galanthus, her trusty white steed. She got four pieces of burlap and wrapped them around the horse's hooves to dampen any sounds, then carefully led him out and into the forest behind the stables. She walked by his side for a good twenty minutes until she felt she was far enough away from the castle, then unwrapped Galanthus’ hooves, got on and rode as fast as she could in the dense forest.

Emma went north first, just in case she had missed someone following her. The last thing she needed was to lead the hunters straight to their prey, the unic… _woman_ she was trying to protect.

After an hour's ride, sure that she was most definitely alone in the forest, she veered slowly towards the direction where she had last seen the unicorn. She stopped Galanthus close to where she had first seen the black unicorn but of course there was nothing there. Emma got off her horse and led it into the underbrush, intent on finding a place to rest until morning, until it was light enough for her to see tracks and start her search.

Not far from the road, Galanthus suddenly balked and a shiver ran down Emma’s spine, but the feeling was gone as quickly as it had come and Emma forgot about it almost immediately. As she led her horse ever deeper into the woods, she gradually became aware of the deathly quiet that suddenly seemed to permeate this part of the forest like a fog. There was no animal scurrying about, no bird singing a nightly serenade. Emma had never seen a forest this quiet, not even in the middle of the night like right now — it was unnatural. She forged on, however, until she came to a small lake in a beautiful clearing, gleaming silver in the moonlight. Emma sighed in contentment at the beauty of the place and decided to stop there for the night.

She had just dragged the saddle off of Galanthus’ back and hitched him to a tree when she had the feeling she wasn't alone. She lowered the saddle to the ground slowly and quietly, then looked around the glade. She hoped it was the unicorn but when she finally managed to make out where the rustle of leaves on the ground was coming from and turned that way, her eyes found neither the magical animal she had hoped for nor an outlaw ready to attack.

It was a woman.

Emma absent-mindedly patted Galanthus’ neck while she watched as the woman walked up to the shore of the small lake and stood still as a statue, seemingly entranced by her reflection in the water. Her dark hair was gleaming silver in the moonlight, and something inside Emma nudged her forward. She approached the lake carefully, keeping an eye on the mysterious woman, and when she was by the edge of the water, about 20 feet from the woman, she cleared her throat.

What was meant to be a small sound was deafening in the eerily silent clearing. The woman looked up, eyes wide in surprise, and turned to meet the intruder. As soon as her eyes met Emma's, the princess' heart stuttered in her chest, while the woman let out an almost inaudible gasp.

Unable to stop herself, Emma took several large steps that took her right up to the other woman, her eyes never leaving those familiar-looking dark eyes. When she was only inches from her, Emma stopped. “I don’t know how … but it’s you, isn't it?" she asked softly, her voice barely carrying over the small distance between them. "Regina?"

Surprise flittered across the flawless features. "How did you manage ...? What are you doing here?"

Her voice sounded raspy and hoarse, as if it hadn't been used in way too long, and it seemed to Emma the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. "I've been looking for you," she murmured. “I wanted to … _need_ to warn you. You’re in danger."

To Emma's surprise, Regina chuckled at that, a dry, joyless sound. "I'm always in danger, Princess."

“How …?"

Regina rolled her eyes the same way the black unicorn had done. "You _told_ me that your mother was Snow White," she explained. "What are you really doing here? Taking care of your mother's problem for her for good?" She scoffed and spread her arms to the side. "Go ahead," she taunted, "it's not like I can offer much resistance in this form."

Emma took a step back in shock. "I'm not here to kill you," she insisted. "I'm not my mother."

"Again with the bitterness when you talk about dear, dear Snow," Regina mused aloud, sounding slightly amused at the thought. "Whatever did she do to you?"

“Trying to make me into someone I’m not all my life,” Emma replied angrily. “Lying to me … Seems she's been hiding a lot from me," she added, pointing at Regina. "I never even knew there was a Queen Regina before today. Well, yesterday," she amended, glancing at the bit of night sky she could see through the trees. "It’s not a good feeling when you find out you don’t even know your own parents. My mother has always presented herself as infallible and the purest of hearts, and now I realize that she and my father are neither.”

"Ah yes, the shepherd," Regina smirked. She noticed the goosebumps on Emma's arms. "The nights are getting chilly this time of year. I have a small cottage if you trust me not to kill you in your sleep. I also may have some hay for your lovely horse.”

"Why wouldn't I?" Emma asked. "Just because my parents hate you, doesn't mean I do."

"Oh my dear sweet summer child," Regina said around a chuckle. "You really have no idea who I am, do you?"

o—o—o

The cottage was set back from the lake a little bit, hidden in a cove of thickly-grown trees. It was small — just a large room downstairs and a smaller loft accessible by a ladder — but well cared for.

Once Galanthus was taken care of, Emma entered the cottage and took in her surroundings before facing Regina. “I’m not sure I understand all of this,” she said as Regina busied herself at the small fire. “I thought you were turned into a unicorn by Rumpelstiltskin? And yesterday you _were_ a black unicorn … What kind of magic is this?”

Regina calmly finished making their drinks before joining Emma at the small table in front of the hearth. “I am both,” she finally replied. “Rumpel made a deal with your parents — his freedom for my eternal imprisonment in a non-human form without access to magic — but as always your parents didn’t read the fine print.”

Emma snorted. “They never meant to honor that deal anyway, I think.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Blue Fairy turned the imp to stone at their behest,” Emma explained.

“Oh.” That information seemed to shock Regina.

“Shouldn’t you be happy that he was taken care of?” Emma asked hesitantly. “He was the one who did this to you …”

“He did it because your oh so honorable parents forced him to,” Regina retorted. “He was also the only one who could end this curse.”

“Hmm.” Emma digested the information. “My mother seemed quite shocked when she figured out that you were still alive,” she pointed out after a moment. “And I bet she’d be even more surprised if she saw you now. Unless you were a toddler when you drew her hate, I can see why …”

“Rumpel doesn’t … didn’t react well to being forced to do anything he didn’t want to do,” Regina explained. “So he made sure to create a lot of loopholes in the deal. He did turn me into a unicorn — a non-human form incapable of doing magic — but only from sunrise to sunset. At night I am my old self.”

“My parents suspect that he put some kind of protection spell on you …”

There was a short flicker of hesitation on Regina's face before it was replaced by an almost placid smile. “He did provide protection, both for my human form and the unicorn, yes,” she admitted. “What your parents clearly didn’t know, however, was that while unicorns have no magic to wield, they are in itself magical creatures with innate magical properties. In this case, the deal they made with Rumpel ensured that I would never age until the curse was lifted. The hours I age during the night, are regenerated every day by the unicorn form. Your parents idiotic insistence on making deals with Rumpelstitskin managed to make me essentially immortal.”

“Is there really no way to break this curse?” Emma asked. “If you want it broken, that is.”

Regina shook her head. “Believe me, I tried, at least for the first few years. The remainder of my own magic is useless against it unfortunately.”

“You have magic?”

“Rumpel stripped most of it but left me enough for simple tasks that make life easier in this form … and ensure my survival.” Regina moved her hand, making a plate of food appear in front of Emma. “I’m assuming you’re hungry?”

“Starving!” Emma dug in. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Regina sounded a little unsure. “I don’t understand you, Princess. Why are you here?”

Emma swallowed down the food in her mouth. “I don’t really know,” she murmured. “There was something about the unicorn … _you_ that spoke to me … and then my parents talked about hunting you down and killing you … and I just couldn’t let that happen.”

“I killed your grandfather,” Regina suddenly revealed, voice even. “And many, many other people. Maybe your parents are right to want me dead.”

“W-Why?” Emma gasped.

“Why what?”

“Why did you kill him?”

“What does that matter?”

“Reasons matter,” Emma insisted. “So why?”

“Because I hated him and he made my life miserable,” Regina replied tonelessly, although Emma could see real pain in her eyes. She realized then and there that no matter what the woman sitting across from her _said_ , her eyes would always reveal what she was actually feeling. And what Emma saw was a lifetime’s worth of pain.

“All right.” Emma nodded once, slowly. “Why kill all the other people then?”

Regina gaped at her. “All _right_?” she blurted, and Emma felt proud she had made her lose her composure. “How can you say that?”

“I’m not saying I think it’s all right to kill people,” Emma clarified. “Just that sometimes people can be pushed so hard and hurt so badly that they feel like there’s no other way.” Emma sipped from the cup Regina had provided and grunted in appreciation when she realized it was apple cider. “So why kill the others?”

Regina sighed. “I was at war with your mother,” she explained softly. “Some were casualties of war, some were actively helping your mother or simply hiding her. I hate your mother, and I wanted her dead.” She saw Emma open her mouth. “And before you ask: I hate her because she was the reason I had to marry your grandfather.”

“There is so much I don’t know, so much nobody ever told me,” Emma murmured. “Why would they do that? Why keep this part of our history from me?”

“To protect you?” Regina ventured. “Why make you worry about things that don’t matter anymore …” She added laconically, indicating herself in her simple dress, sitting in a small cottage in the forest. “Or maybe simply to allow you to see them as perfect leaders? Giving you an example of what they want you to be once you begin your rule.”

Emma snorted and almost choked on her food. “Well, that worked out well. I have no plans of following my mother onto the throne. Ever.”

Regina raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment as she didn’t take the princess’ words too seriously. “Why don’t you tell me why you seem to be the only person not completely enamored by Snow White?”

Emma swallowed and cleared her throat. “I will after you tell me the rest of your story while I finish eating,” she countered. “Why did you have to marry the king? What did my mother do?”

Regina stared into the fire for a long time, so long in fact that Emma was beginning to think she wouldn’t get an answer. Her food rested on her plate, forgotten despite her hunger as she watched the slightly older woman, fascinated by the emotions racing across her beautiful features. _She wouldn’t last a day in the snake pit of intrigue that was her mother’s court,_ Emma thought. _At least not anymore._

Finally, Regina looked up and met Emma’s eyes. “Very well,” she rasped. “I will share my story.” She pointed at the food. “Eat.”

Emma took another bite as Regina haltingly began to tell the story of a young girl and her simple dreams which were destroyed by the machinations of a power-hungry mother and the selfishness of a spoiled child. The food tasted stale in Emma’s mouth when Regina spoke of the heartless way her first love had been killed due to Snow White’s inability to keep a secret, and she put the food down completely when Regina tonelessly reported the ingredients of an abusive marriage.

“I’m so sorry,” Emma breathed when Regina stopped to take a breath. “So sorry my family caused you all that pain.”

Regina waved Emma’s concern away. “It’s long in the past and we all have to live with it now.”

“But my parents get to live in that white castle lording it over everybody with their _goodness_ ,” Emma groused. “While you sit here in a cottage during the night and roam the woods as a unicorn during the day.”

“I’ve had close to thirty years to get used to it,” Regina replied softly. “And frankly, this life is a thousand times better than my life as a queen in that castle, a life I never wanted anyway. This is much closer to the life I dreamed of as a girl, apart from the daily morphing … and the immortality. But one day soon your mother will be old and frail and I will still be here. I will _always_ be here ... which is just as much a blessing as it is a curse."

“Let me help you get your life back,” Emma pleaded. “If it's in a castle or this cottage or wherever you want to live,” — she almost said _we_ — “whatever you want to do … allow me to help you. Let me try and find a way to undo this curse on you.”

“Oh, Princess,” Regina said with a sad smile. “There is but one way to break this curse and that chance was lost many, many years ago.” Her words were firm and resigned, but Emma noticed that her voice wasn't.

“How?” Emma jumped up. “Tell me, so I can make it happen!”

The sad smile on Regina’s face got sadder. “The only thing to break any curse is true love’s kiss. Didn’t your precious parents tell you that, Princess?”

"Could you stop with that, please? I'm not much of a princess."

"What are you then?" Regina asked, her voice less mocking than Emma expected. "A knight perhaps, on a grand quest to save the damsel in distress?"

Emma snorted. "I doubt very much that you're a damsel."

"But you believe I'm in distress?"

“Perhaps,” Emma admitted. “And yes, my parents regaled me with stories of their true love's kiss and its magic. They claim only people with pure hearts can have true love ... which is a load of horseshit, now that I think about it … There's no way their hearts are as pure as they claim!”

“That may be so, Princess, but mine _most definitely_ isn’t,” Regina reminded her guest softly.

“Neither is mine.”

Their eyes met, and the air around them prickled with a sudden charge. Then Emma yawned, breaking the moment, and Regina followed suit in pure reflex.

“We should sleep, sunrise will come soon enough,” Regina suggested, tired from recounting her life and talking far longer than she had in decades. “Come, my knight,” she teased. “You can swear your allegiance to me in the morning.”

“I can do it right now,” Emma protested, even as she followed Regina to the ladder that led to the loft.

“I was joking.”

“I’m not.”

They went to bed in their clothes, wary of shedding too many layers in the cold night and with a stranger next to them, but Emma’s body was still drawn to the source of warmth next to her.

“Princess,” came the low warning when Emma rolled into Regina’s back for the second time.

“I can’t help it, it’s this mattress,” Emma replied meekly. It wasn’t, but it served as a good excuse. “Besides, it’s cold.”

Regina let out a long sigh. “Fine,” she huffed. It _was_ much colder now that the fire in the hearth was dying down. That was _all_ this was, she told herself, and not the fact that the first human contact in almost 30 years felt so unbelievably good. She didn’t know what it was about Snow White’s daughter of all people that brought out these almost forgotten feelings in her, but right now she was too tired to think much about it. Or about the fact that Emma had managed to simply stroll through the protective barrier that hid her cottage from the rest of the world — without a hint that she had even noticed. No, it was better not to dwell on that or the way the body next to her felt warm and comfortable, and _right_. Unconsciously, she wiggled a little closer to the body behind her, willing herself to fall asleep before she did something idiotic and potentially irreversible like turning around and kissing the woman who had waltzed through Regina’s personal defenses and made her _feel_ as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

No, it was better not to ponder the reasons for all of that. At all.

Emma snuggled closely to Regina’s back and breathed in her scent with something very close to contentment. In the morning she would start out trying to find a way to find Regina’s true love, or — she added when that thought left her with an uncomfortable twinge — she’d find another way to break the curse.

When she was sure Regina was asleep, her breaths deep and even in the still of the night, Emma pressed a kiss to the shoulder she was resting against. “You have my allegiance, Regina,” she whispered. “Whether you want it or not. And I will find a way.”

Regina didn’t open her eyes but there was a small smile and a lone tear on her face, and her chest widened in something like hope.

**TBC?**


End file.
